Improvement in ship-building



UNITED STATES PATENT @EETCEGb HENRY RANDALL, OF PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO IHMSELF, AND ISAAC I. BALDIVIN, OF NEV YORK,N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN SHIP-BUILDING.r

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 33,55%), dated October22, 1861.

. To all whom, t may concern:

Beit known that I, HENRY RANDALL, at present of the city and county ofPhiladelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new andImproved Method of Framing Steamships of Light Draft; and I do herebydeclare thatl the following is a full and exact description thereof,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters ofreference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists. in so framing steamships as toinsure with a flat bottom and light draft great strength in a verticaldirection, so as`not only to prevent a sinking of the extremities andrising of the midd1e,but also to prevent a rising of the extremities andsinking of the middle of the ship; also, to insure greater strengthlaterally and to effectually prevent any twisting or wreathing motion ortendency to roll,thus rendering a ship not. only steady, but firm andrigid in every part throughout its entire length, enabling it to standup squarely in any sea and to be always in trim, allowing the swell ot'the sea to pass under it, (instead of dashing against its sides orqual-ten) and to ride the waves with more ease and greater' safety.

A high rate of speed on the ocean can only be attained by steamshipswith a light draft, and to make them safe strength is indispensable, andalthough deep-draft vessels may be made sufficiently strong from thevertical strength of their form, as will be evident, it is difcult ofaccomplishment in the case of light-draft and dat-bottomed vessels, aswill be correspondinglyevident, and no plan hitherto known to the publicaccomplishes this to a sufcient extent, even theoretically, in any formfor practical application.

To enable others skilled in ship-building to use my invention, I willproceed to describe it as follows:

To insure a light draft and steady motion, a broad at bottom is given tot-he ship, with very little dead-rise from the keel to thebilgekeelsons, turning a short round bilge. (See cross-section View A A,Fig. l.) This form extends about One-fourth the entire length of theship, when the curve of the bilge gradually enlarges and approaches thekeel as the ends are approached, terminating perfectly sharp at the endsand partially so on the bottom. Asuftieient number ot ribs are made toextend above the main deck sufficiently far to be trimmed olf and becapped by or kueed to avertical arch sprung from stem to stern andterminating in the dead-wood at each end ofthe ship, where it is firmlyfixed. (See B B, Fig. 2.) Interwoven with this and the ribs is acounter-arch c c, extending nearly from stem to stern, its greatestcurve resting on the bilge-keelsons, iirmly connected at and near eachend with broad iron straps H, and securely bolted throughout its entirelength to the side of theship. The main-deck timbers at theirjuxtaposition with the ribs are iirmly connected and are projectedbeyond the ribs sufiiciently far ou tboardto be trimmed off to matchinto and be capped by a horizontal arch sprung nearly from stem to sternof a sufficient curvature to embrace the paddle-boxes, as shown in Fig.S, D D. Connected with all at proper intervals are adjusta/ble irontension-braces E and F, Fig. l, that encircle and tie together thedifferent sections of the ship in the most perfect manner, so as toeffectually prevent any twisting or wreathing motion, the tension-bracesE running from the main-deck timbers inboard and below (or from centerposts or struts fixed between the main-deck timbers and the keelsons) tothe ribs at a point above the waterline, thence to the horizontal arch,thence to the vertical arch, thence athwart ships, and in acorresponding manner from point to point to the counterpart place ofbeginning. The iron diagonal braces a, Fig. 2, which are usually placedon the inside of the ribs, I place on the outside ot' the ribs, and thushoop the ships frame rmly together, giving it still additional strength.

The manifold advantages gained by my method of building steamships areinvolved in the attainment of two points-viz., light draft withstrengthby which, with a small power, high speed, safety, comfort, andeconomy are secured.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

l. Making the main-deck timbers of a steamship project outboardsufiiciently far to be trimmed off and be capped by a horizontal Incombination with the foregoing, the

arch of sufficient curvature to embrace the l inverted counter-arch,substantially as depaddle-boxes and eXtending` nearly from stem tscribed.

t0 stern, substantially as described. 4. In` combination with all theabove, the 2. In combination with the above, making adjustable irontension-braces E E, Fig. l,

a suiicient, number of the ribs extend above substantially as described.

the main-deck timbers, to which they are firmly connected, far enough tobe trimmed HENRY RANDALL. oi and be capped by a vertical arch sprungWVitnesses: from stem to stern, or nearly s0, substantially J. B.PALMER,

as described. GHAs. P. WILLIS.

